Logan POV
I felt bad for Bobby, with all of the things that had been happening to him over the past couple of days.
And despite the fact that I knew something else was coming, I was still surprised to get the call.
"Mike, it's Alex. Bobby's being questioned about a murder."
"It doesn't end, does it?" I asked rhetorically. "Who got killed?"
"It's a long story. The detectives just took him with them. Can you and Carolyn meet us at the 2-7? I'm hoping you still have some friends there because we can use all the help we can get."
"We'll be there as soon as we can."
"Who got killed?" Carolyn asked me when I hung up with Alex.
"I don't know, but they've picked up Bobby for the murder."
"What? Shit, let's go."
We got to the 2-7 and it was obvious that Alex was a wreck. Obvious to me anyway. She looked calm enough on the outside, but her eyes told a different story.
"How're you doing?" I asked her when she met us in the hall.
"They've got him in the interrogation room," she said. And then she told us what she knew.
"A dancer at a club?" Carolyn asked. "There's no way."
"He told them that he hasn't seen Ginger since he came out of the undercover operation. And he only knew of her, but didn't really know her."
"So what's their problem?" I asked.
"There are several dancers who say different. They told the detectives that Bobby's been hanging around for the past year, and that he and Ginger were an item."
"That's ridiculous. And it shouldn't be too hard to disprove."
"The time of death was about four weeks ago, and that lines up with the last time anyone saw Ginger. And they say she was with Bobby then. They asked me if I could account for his whereabouts that day."
As much time as Bobby and Alex spent together, having her vouch for his time shouldn't have been difficult. But by the panic on her face, I knew we'd hit another snag.
"And I…um…I don't know," she began, clearly flustered. "I've been able to…um…to account for his time with the exception of one afternoon after work. I don't know where he…uh…where he went that day."
"Surely they haven't been able to pinpoint the exact time of death," Carolyn said. "It's been too long. They'd have to estimate it within a reasonable time span. Just because you can't account for a few hours of his time doesn't mean he's guilty of anything."
"The witness reports are specific. The afternoon that I can't account for…that's the day the witnesses say Bobby was with her. Mike…"
She was starting to lose it. It had been too much lately. Most normal people would've cracked a long time ago, but Alex wasn't most people. And I wasn't going to let her crumble.
"Alex," I said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be fine. When was it?"
And when she told me, I had to smile.
"He was with me," I told her. Relief flooded her face. I know she didn't actually think there was any truth to the witness statements, but it was the fact that she wasn't able to provide an alibi that was bothering her.
"With you? Where?"
"That was the day we went to the jewelry store," I said. "We bought the wedding bands for us," I added, tilting my head toward Carolyn. "And Bobby bought the diamond for you."
"Oh, thank God. The store will have cameras. We'll be able to prove it."
"What store? I'll get the owner on the phone right now," Carolyn said.
"It's midnight," Alex said.
"I'll find him," she replied.
I gave her the information and she wandered over to the nearest empty desk. She sat down and started working at the computer. I looked around the room quickly to see if someone was going to stop her, but no one was paying any attention to her. Carolyn had a way of acting like she belonged.
"I need to get him a lawyer," Alex said to me.
"Have they officially charged him with anything?"
"No, they're just questioning him. But he's been in there for an hour. And these witness statements and fingerprints on the body…Mike, somebody's really gone through a lot of trouble to put him on the hook for this."
"Then we're going to find out who. And then we're going to take them down," I assured her. "Tell me everything. Start from the beginning."
"They haven't told me much. The body turned up this morning. I'm not sure where. The victim had Bobby's business card on her. And she had ID on her, so they went to her apartment. Her roommate said she'd been missing for several weeks."
"And that she was a dancer," I encouraged.
"Right."
"Was there any evidence that Bobby had been in her apartment?"
"Uh…no. No, I don't think so. They didn't mention it."
"Okay, so then they went to her work."
"Right. It was the club where Bobby went undercover. He managed to get the owner arrested for murder and dealing. And a cop who was on suspension, Mike Stoat – he was arrested, too."
"Are they both still in jail?"
"I think so. They should be."
"Hey Carolyn!" I called out softly. "When you're done, pull up Michael Stoat and…" I looked to Alex for her to fill in the name of the other guy.
"John Testarossa."
Carolyn nodded and kept working. I looked around again, but the room was nearly empty and those detectives who were on duty were probably all watching Bobby's interrogation. I wouldn't mind seeing it myself because I had no doubt that he was staying three steps ahead of everyone else, even though he was the one in the hot seat.
"So Stoat and Testerossa would have a beef with him."
"Absolutely. But it's been a long time. Why now? And this is pretty complex to pull off from prison, especially when you factor in the drugs and the fingerprints."
"The drugs are throwing me," I admitted. "Why start with that?"
"Maybe just to make him lose credibility?" Alex offered. And it was a good guess. Trouble out of the blue wouldn't stick as well as trouble on top of trouble.
Carolyn hung up the phone and gave me a look. I knew what it meant.
"No security footage?"
"It's on a twenty-four hour loop," she confirmed.
"Okay. That's okay," I said. "He charged the ring. There'll be a record of him using his credit card that afternoon."
"Any one could have used the charge card."
"Maybe, but I'm betting that sales lady will remember him, too. He made her show him three dozen rings and provide him with the history on each of them," I told her. She smirked at me, and I was glad I was able to get her to relax a little.
"Hey, he wanted it to be perfect," I added.
"Guys," Carolyn said. Alex and I walked over to where she sat.
"What is it?"
"Stoat was recently transferred so that he could be at a court appearance."
"And?"
"Who was his cellie?" Alex asked her.
"Taggart."
"That prick? You think he's behind this, too?" I asked.
"I think it's an awfully big coincidence that two people who hated Bobby ended up in a cell together. And the transfer wasn't even necessary. The court date was postponed but the transfer went through anyway. There were specific orders."
"From who?"
"I don't know. But you can be damn sure we're going to find out."
Bobby POV
This was a nightmare. And I didn't see it ending any time soon.
Rice and Davis kept asking me the same questions over and over, apparently hoping I would trip myself up and get caught in a lie.
But in order for that to happen, I would have to be lying and I wasn't.
I tried to stay calm. They're doing their jobs, I reminded myself. I would be doing the same thing in their shoes. But still…
I needed to talk to Alex. She wouldn't really believe that crap about me having a relationship with that girl would she? I mean, not recently. I knew she wouldn't believe that. But even before.
I didn't want her to think for one second that I had been dating someone, especially while I was on suspension.
I had been miserable during that time. I spoke to her every day until I started that damn undercover thing, and then I let Ross convince me not to tell her.
So then I couldn't talk to her at all because I decided it was better to say nothing than to say something and have it be a lie.
Fucking Ross. And Moran. Yet another reason to hate those two.
"So you never had a relationship with the victim?" Rice asked me for the tenth time.
"No."
"You ever have sex with the victim?" Davis asked.
"No."
"Ever want to? Ever try and then she rejected you?"
"No."
"Because we've got an ME going over the body right now. We'll find out if she had sex before she died."
Please let it be Rodgers, I thought.
"If she did, it wasn't with me."
"Because you were shopping with your friend."
"Right."
"So all of our witnesses are lying."
"They are if they said I was with her. I haven't seen her since the last day of my undercover work. You can check my file to get the exact date."
"We've called your captain. He's bringing your jacket."
Great. Ross was coming to my rescue for the second night in a row.
"Can you explain how your fingerprints got on her body?"
"No. Can you explain how your people were able to pull good fingerprints off a month-old corpse?"
That stopped them for a minute. They looked at each other and then back at me.
"What's your explanation?" Davis asked.
"You want me to do your job for you?" I couldn't help being a smartass. I was tired and upset and I was starting to channel Alex.
"Detective…"
"That's right. I'm a detective. So if I were going to commit a crime, would I leave my fingerprints? Would I leave my business card on the body? I mean, come on," I said, shaking my head.
"So you're saying someone's framing you."
"That's what I'm saying."
"Who? Why?"
"I don't know yet," I admitted. "But I imagine my wife and my friends are working on that right now."
I had no doubt that Alex had called Mike and Carolyn as soon as Rice and Davis had decided to move the party to the precinct. And they were probably out in the squad room already chasing leads.
"Am I under arrest?" I asked finally. I was done.
"No," Rice said reluctantly. "Not right now."
"Good. I'm leaving." I stood up and headed for the door.
"Detective, we'll be in touch. Don't leave the jurisdiction."
"I know the drill."
I rounded the corner into the squad room and met Alex's gaze across the room. I tilted my head toward another hallway and she crossed the room to meet me there. It was empty, so I quickly pulled her into my arms.
"I'm so sorry about this," I said softly into her hair.
"You know it's not your fault," she replied. "Stoat's behind this. Maybe Taggart."
"Taggart? From the 6-9?" I asked, pulling back from her a little.
"He and Stoat were put in a cell together this past week."
"Why?"
"We're trying to track that down now. Somebody wanted those two together. We just don't know who."
"Moran?"
"It does keep coming back to him, doesn't it?"
I pulled her flush against me again and just held on.
"You know it's all a lie, right?" I asked her. I couldn't help myself. I had to make sure that she believed me. That she believed in me.
"Of course I do."
"I mean, even back then. I hardly even talked to those girls. To any girls."
"Okay. But even if you had, that would be okay. We weren't together then," she replied with understanding.
But she wasn't getting it. I pulled back again and put my hands on her cheeks. I looked straight into her eyes and tried to let her see everything I was feeling.
"No, it wouldn't have been okay," I insisted. "I was in love with you. And I was torn apart on the inside because I couldn't talk to you. But Ross swore to me that if I told you about the operation, then I would never get my badge back. And without my badge, I would never get back to you. Alex, I know it sounds messed up and I know now that it was wrong, but I did it so that I could be with you."
"I understand."
"Do you? You understand how much you mean to me? How much you meant to me back then?"
"Yes."
"Then you understand that I would have never been with anyone else."
She nodded, her eyes filled with unshed tears.
"I just don't want you to think, even for a second…no matter what they say, I want you to know the truth, okay?"
"It's going to keep getting worse, isn't it?" she asked, burying her head against my chest.
"It might. We need to call Liz and get her to examine that body. They were asking me about…they wanted to know if I…"
I couldn't say the words.
"They're saying you slept with her."
"Yeah."
"We'll get this straightened out, Bobby. I promise. We'll get to the bottom of it."
"I love you, Alex," I whispered. "Thank you so much for believing in me."
I held her another minute longer and then we separated, ready to meet up with Mike and Carolyn and get to work.
It was going to be a long night.
TBC...
